Asia News: Beijing Music Festival, Takarazuka Music School, Bruno Mars + Arashi

China.org reports that the 23rd Beijing Music Festival will be held from October 10 to 20 this year and will present more than 240 hours of classical music concerts both online and offline. 

According to conductor Yu Long, the chairperson of the festival art committee, the offline content will comprise twenty performances featuring orchestras, chamber music, solo recitals and opera films. The online portion will feature audio and video programs of famous classical works being broadcast on a continual basis. 

The opening concert of the festival will feature a vocal and choral symphony that will pay tribute to those who fought on the front lines of the battle against the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Takarazuka Music School, located in the eponymous city in western Japan, is probably Japan’s most famous training institution for the theatrical arts, and is connected to the world famous all-female Takarazuka Revue, which performs original and adapted stage musicals. All of the actors in the productions start out as students at the school.

In early September, the school announced that it was doing away with its infamous set of regulations for students, which many people have complained about for years as being outmoded and unfair. 

According to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, it has taken the school several years to come to grips with these changes, since the rules involved have never been formally set down in writing. They’ve just been incorporated into the school’s culture by force of habit. 

Some of these rules seem trivial, such as the obligation for students to bow in the direction of a train that is carrying other more senior students. Slightly more serious, but no less ridiculous, is the mandated facial expressions that underclass students must contrive when addressing older colleagues, as well as a prescribed set of vocabulary when addressing them. 

The most important changes are those involving disciplinary measures, since in today’s world such punishments could be construed as constituting harassment and condoning bullying. Mainichi, however, does not elaborate on the specific nature of these now discarded disciplinary measures. 

The Takarazuka Revue celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013. Students at the school train in classical ballet, singing and Japanese dance. The school only accepts 40 new students every year and competition is fierce, since almost anyone who graduates is guaranteed a position in the theater company. 

A theater critic interviewed by Mainichi said, “I am sure the school can develop discipline and good manners without resorting to irrational traditions.”

On Sept. 11, Japan economics minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said he wanted to completely lift restrictions on live entertainment venues that are in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, since the number of new infections associated with such venues has dropped significantly in recent weeks. 

At present, however, Nishimura was mainly talking about venues that present traditional theater arts, such as kabuki, as well as those that host classical music concerts. 

Pop and rock concerts would probably still be subject to restrictions, but he said they were under consideration as well. 

A special government health panel will discuss the minister’s proposal and make a recommendation soon. The government has already increased spectator limits from 5,000 to 20,000 for certain sporting events.

Japanese media is reporting that Bruno Mars is producing a new song by Japan’s biggest idol boy band Arashi, which is set for release on Sept. 18. 

Arashi, the flagship group of one of Japan’s biggest talent agencies, Johnny & Associates, is set to call it quits at the end of the year after several decades in the limelight, despite the fact that they were slated to be the main ambassadors of the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics and were slated to perform at the opening ceremony. 

The new single, titled “Whenever You Call,” is the group’s first all-English song, and some internet pundits are saying it is being released in response to BTS’s all-English gambit. 

Arashi, however, has nowhere the international presence as that enjoyed by the K-Pop juggernaut. “Whenever You Call” will start streaming at midnight Sept. 17 and a music video will be released on Arashi’s official YouTube channel starting at 1 p.m. Japan time on Sept. 18.

The Korea Creative Content Agency has announced that the international music fair, 2020 MU:CON, will take place Sept. 23 to 26. The fair assembles music industry insiders and artists for discussions about the state of the business and showcase performances from both Korean groups and international artists. This year will mark MU:CON’s ninth installment.

In an interview with the Korea Herald, Kim Young-jun, the president of KCCA, said, “The music industry has shown the power of k-pop through a fast transition to contactless concerts, despite the damage due to the difficulties of holding offline concerts as COVID continues to spread. I hope through MU:CON Online 2020 that artists inside and outside Korea will think once more about the changes brought on by COVID-19 and help direct the music industry going forward.”

The theme of the discussions at the fair will be “Post Corona, Next Music Industry.” The keynote speaker will be Jaeson Ma, co-founder of 88rising and the co-owner for the social media platform Thriller, who will talk about post-pandemic changes and trends. Lee Sung-soo, the CEO of S.M. Entertainment, one of South Korea’s biggest talent agencies and production companies, will speak about new businesses that “break down musical boundaries.”

The opening concert on September 23 will feature k-pop groups Teen Top, GFriend and others, and the nightly showcase will feature 70 artists and groups. The public can watch the proceedings via the KOCCA Music YouTube channel.